Thoughtworks: A leading technology consultancy | Thoughtworks

First time visit: View without clicking anything

Who we work with | Thoughtworks

Engineering | Thoughtworks

Articles | Thoughtworks

Blogs | Thoughtworks

Culture | Thoughtworks

Our history | Thoughtworks

Books written by Thoughtworkers | Thoughtworks

Business | Thoughtworks

Lists (e.g., `<ul>` or `<ol>`) should only contain list items (`<li>`) as a direct descendant 
to ensure that screen readers can accurately report the amount of items contained in the list. 

## Example

In the following example, some screen readers would say this list has two items, instead of 
four: 

```html
<ul>
    <div class="some_class">
        <li>Example 1</li>
    </div>
    <div class="some_other_class">
        <li>Example 2</li>
        <li>Example 3</li>
        <li>Example 4</li>
    </div>
</ul>
```

To fix this, you would need to remove the `<div class="some_class">` and 
`<div class="some_other_class>` elements and ensure only `<li>` list items remain.

## Further reading

The [formal specification for the list element](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/ul)
shows what is and is not permitted inside an `<ul>` and `<ol>`.

See [Technique H88](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/H88.html) for more information.

list-not-following-semantics

January 2026

December 2025

Thoughtworks

Title / URL	Issues
Thoughtworks: A leading technology consultancy \| Thoughtworkswww.thoughtworks.com/	23
First time visit: View without clicking anythingwww.thoughtworks.com/	23
Who we work with \| Thoughtworkswww.thoughtworks.com/clients	21
Engineering \| Thoughtworkswww.thoughtworks.com/engineering	5
Articles \| Thoughtworkswww.thoughtworks.com/insights/articles	5
Blogs \| Thoughtworkswww.thoughtworks.com/insights/blog	5
Culture \| Thoughtworkswww.thoughtworks.com/insights/culture	3
Our history \| Thoughtworkswww.thoughtworks.com/about-us/history	3
Books written by Thoughtworkers \| Thoughtworkswww.thoughtworks.com/insights/books	3
Business \| Thoughtworkswww.thoughtworks.com/insights/business	3

Ensure lists are marked up correctly

Thoughtworks

Where this issue has occurred